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Welcome to the 107th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This project is a revival of our once-weekly feature where we share our favorite games and applications with you. The titles we recommend may be "old school" games, a piece of Homebrew, a ROM hack, sleeper hits, an application, etc, but one thing's for certain, we think they are fantastic and deserve your attention!

Today, we’re going to be looking at a game based off of one of the most well-known anime franchises to exist. Get ready to unleash a Kamehameha and take on the world’s strongest fighters in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is, quite obviously, the third entry to developer Spike’s 3D Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi fighting game series. It takes the foundation laid by its rocky, unrefined prequels, and uses that to create a solid fighter, with a very complex combat system.

The story mode is also incredibly comprehensive, covering every major arc of the DBZ anime, as well as going through most of the original Dragon Ball fights, all of GT, and every movie that had been released at that point. If that’s not enough for even the most hardcore of fans, there is also an entire “what if?” scenario to play through too.

Having a game that goes through all of the DBZ story would be remiss if it didn’t allow you to play as all your favorite characters. Tenkaichi 3 more that delivers on that front by having a total of 161 different fighters in its roster. Although each of them controls similarly, and some of them are different timeline versions of the same character (There are 5 Gokus, 4 Vegetas, and 5 Gohans) they all have unique special attacks, combos, and transformations between themselves.

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This brings me to the gameplay. In Tenkaichi 3, each fight takes place in a large environment with semi-invisible barriers, should you reach the limits of the arena. Each stage is destructible, from destroying simple rock formations and houses, to completely annihilating the area and turning it into a volcanic ruin that you fight atop. Duels can either be between 1v1, or up to teams of up to 5v5. Combat is fast-paced and wild, with every character getting a very extensive combo/skill list in the pause menu. You have your regular punch combos, but you can also throw in more powerful attacks between each hit, as there is a different finisher move for each stage of a basic combo that you can string together for a ridiculously high amount of hits that will leave your opponent reeling. If you want to unleash special attacks, you can charge your “ki” meter to use energy beams like the iconic Kamehameha. There is also a teleport dodge, which lets you get out of dangerous situations, assuming you time it right and have a decent amount of ki charged up. This, of course, is just the very basics of combat, and if you’re willing to invest some time into learning the game, you’ll be rewarded with a very fun and in-depth fighting system.

For those playing on the Nintendo Wii, you either use the standard Gamecube/Classic controller, or you can use the Wiimote+Nunchuk. If you choose the Wiimote option, you can use the motion controls to mimic the special attack poses from the show. It works surprisingly well, and is a nice addition, especially for those who like to take advantage of the Wii’s capabilities.

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Outside of Duel Mode, the game also offers “Ultimate Battle” and “World Tournament” modes. In Ultimate Battle, players can either go through 100 fights in a row, with certain restrictions placed upon them based upon RPG-like game mechanics, or battle against extremely strong foes with a certain set character. In World Tournament mode, you have to endure an entire tourney bracket which goes by the same rules of the anime’s World Martial Arts Tournament; if you’re ever knocked outside the ring, you are immediately disqualified. All of these are fun additions to the game, and adds to the game’s massive amount of content.

Even though this game released on the PS2 and Wii, the graphics still hold up, with their cell-shaded and cartoony stylized look helping prevent the game from appearing dated, even 9 years later. The one thing that does hold this game back, is that even via emulation, the framerate is hard-locked to 30FPS due to physics. It’s a bit difficult to adjust to, if you’re used to to playing fighting games at a smooth 60fps, but it’s certainly not a deal-breaker.

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For those who like to choose between voice casts, both English and Japanese dub options are available in the main menu. The soundtrack is catchy, composed by Toshiyuki Kishi, and is great for getting you pumped up to play a round.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a fun game, and is well worth a try, especially for those that enjoy fighting games, or Dragon Ball in general.

I've never played the Tenkaichi games, but I played and loved the original three Budokai games even though I'm not really a fan of fighting games. How would you compare Budokai Tenkaichi 3 to, say, Budokai 1, 2, and/or 3? That board game style map was pretty fun.

Welcome to the 107th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This project is a revival of our once-weekly feature where we share our favorite games and applications with you. The titles we recommend may be "old school" games, a piece of Homebrew, a ROM hack, sleeper hits, an application, etc, but one thing's for certain, we think they are fantastic and deserve your attention!

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I didn't notice this was a thing. I didn't see this mentioned before. So question, who is in charge of this?

I've never played the Tenkaichi games, but I played and loved the original three Budokai games even though I'm not really a fan of fighting games. How would you compare Budokai Tenkaichi 3 to, say, Budokai 1, 2, and/or 3? That board game style map was pretty fun.

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I don't think Budokai 1 has aged well, to be honest. But 2 and 3 were really great games. Comparing B3 to BT3 is hard, because I really enjoy both, but I'd say I prefer Tenkaichi to the Budokai series. Juuuust by a slight margin. Both series are quite different, with Budokai having a more arcade-y style gameplay, and Tenkaichi being button mash-y at times. I really find the whole 3D movement of Tenkaichi to be really fun, and the super attacks feel a bit more fun to pull off than in Budokai. I think if you liked B3, definitely give BT3 a shot. It's a bit awkward at first, but it's also really rewarding when you learn the combo strings and all the intricacies.

I didn't notice this was a thing. I didn't see this mentioned before. So question, who is in charge of this?

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"Recommends" has been a thing for years now, and just has on-and-off entries whenever someone on the staff has something to write. I'm not sure what you mean by "in charge" though. We're free to pick any game and write about it, so long as there wasn't already an entry on it before.

It was actually a really tough choice when I was deciding which one to write about. In the end, BT3 having Dolphin Netplay to allow for online battles, and the sheer amount of content in BT3 won out on me.

"Recommends" has been a thing for years now, and just has on-and-off entries whenever someone on the staff has something to write. I'm not sure what you mean by "in charge" though. We're free to pick any game and write about it, so long as there wasn't already an entry on it before.

I played this a while ago, and I remember that it was so hard to learn the controls and the combos for the game. But the big number of playable characters was something that made the game really fun. I also really liked that they added voice acting to the menus. The best thing for me was that bulma talked about her relationships with the characters in the character descriptions. I browsed through all the characters and listened to what bulma had to say, while feeling a bit nostalgic for all the characters, since I used to watch dragonball everday when I was 8. Ahh such great memories in a great game

I don't think Budokai 1 has aged well, to be honest. But 2 and 3 were really great games. Comparing B3 to BT3 is hard, because I really enjoy both, but I'd say I prefer Tenkaichi to the Budokai series. Juuuust by a slight margin. Both series are quite different, with Budokai having a more arcade-y style gameplay, and Tenkaichi being button mash-y at times. I really find the whole 3D movement of Tenkaichi to be really fun, and the super attacks feel a bit more fun to pull off than in Budokai. I think if you liked B3, definitely give BT3 a shot. It's a bit awkward at first, but it's also really rewarding when you learn the combo strings and all the intricacies.

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Good to know. So unless you're a super hardcore fan, you wouldn't recommend BT 1 and 2?

I played this a while ago, and I remember that it was so hard to learn the controls and the combos for the game. But the big number of playable characters was something that made the game really fun. I also really liked that they added voice acting to the menus. The best thing for me was that bulma talked about her relationships with the characters in the character descriptions. I browsed through all the characters and listened to what bulma had to say, while feeling a bit nostalgic for all the characters, since I used to watch dragonball everday when I was 8. Ahh such great memories in a great game

Good to know. So unless you're a super hardcore fan, you wouldn't recommend BT 1 and 2?

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Nope. Not even to hardcore fans. They're inferior versions. Almost like BT1 is an alpha, and BT2 is a beta for what BT3 would become. While BT3 has a few camera issues, BT1's camera is horrendous. BT2 is okay, but it doesn't have as much content, and the super attacks and fly buttons are swapped compared to the sequel, so it'd only serve to confuse players when they move to 3.

Nope. Not even to hardcore fans. They're inferior versions. Almost like BT1 is an alpha, and BT2 is a beta for what BT3 would become. While BT3 has a few camera issues, BT1's camera is horrendous. BT2 is okay, but it doesn't have as much content, and the super attacks and fly buttons are swapped compared to the sequel, so it'd only serve to confuse players when they move to 3.

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Good, it wasn't only me. I remember renting Budokai Tenkaichi 1 back when Hollywood Video was a thing and I just couldn't get into it for similar reasons, which is what put me off from playing the later entries once I got a computer capable of handling 3x+ graphics with PCSX2 (though I DID replay the Budokai games).

So is this thread about the wii version or ps2? I have the ps2 game, there mentioned something about fusion disc, i never had used it cause i only had one game, but what was it for?

Another curious question is that ps2 and wii seem to share a few games, one thing i didn't understand is how just like this game, sonic riders zero gravity also has ps2 and wii only consoles. Then a game like sonic unleashed, available for 4 consoles, the ps2 and wii play the same while ps3 and xbox 360 play the same but different from ps2 and wii. I thought wii was in the same class as ps3 and xbox 360. What is up with that?

So is this thread about the wii version or ps2? I have the ps2 game, there mentioned something about fusion disc, i never had used it cause i only had one game, but what was it for?

Another curious question is that ps2 and wii seem to share a few games, one thing i didn't understand is how just like this game, sonic riders zero gravity also has ps2 and wii only consoles. Then a game like sonic unleashed, available for 4 consoles, the ps2 and wii play the same while ps3 and xbox 360 play the same but different from ps2 and wii. I thought wii was in the same class as ps3 and xbox 360. What is up with that?

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Disc Fusion unlocked Ultimate Battle mode if you had savedata for BT1 or BT2 on your PS2.

Whoop ninja'd.

The Wii and PS2 were systems with an insanely high userbase, so developers would go out of their way to put games out on those systems, to get as many sales as possible. Lots of stripped down versions of "HD" games, much like Unleashed PS2/Wii, were created simply for the cash grab. If I'm remembering right, Infinite World, BT3 and Burst Limit all came out very close together to appeal to as many fans as possible.

I didn't know it was on Wii. I know it was on PS2 though. Maybe I'll buy it, I have a friend who'd record and send me footage of battles he does in that game and it looks a lot of fun. I'm probably going to get Xenoverse 2. Great article by the way.